Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Group 401V: Be ready to discuss this article on October 5.Group 401 (day) and 501V: Be ready by the week of October 10.

Your tasks:

Summarize the whole article in two or three sentences.

Identify and summarize the major subdivisions of the article. (The subdivisions can be one paragraph or a cluster of paragraphs devoted to one aspect of the article.)

Prepare to discuss: What is the main goal of the article? Is the article successful in meeting that goal?

Prepare to discuss: Does the whole idea of "words of the year" make sense to you? What do you think of the binge-watching phenomenon? In your experience, what English words seem to be newly popular and might be eligible for the 2016 list of words of the year?

Bring to class: words and phrases from the article that are unfamiliar or unclear to you.

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Identify and summarize the major subdivisions of the article. (The subdivisions can be one paragraph or a cluster of paragraphs devoted to one aspect of the article.)

Prepare to discuss: What is the main goal of the article? Is the article successful in meeting that goal?

Prepare to discuss: What observations or assertions in the article seem to you to be universal? Which seem to apply specifically to the USA? What observations could you make about "the in-between age" in Russia?

Bring to class: words and phrases that are unfamiliar or unclear to you.

Some of the useful words and phrases:

to make the case (for)what they wanted out of lifeeconomic prospects, likely economic prospectsto be struck byto share a perceptionto pull clear (of)to ponderto settle that questionsetting themselves up (for)larger trends at workmedian (statistics)climbed past, edged aboveGI Bill of Rightsto build a careerto face the risksheterogeneitysheer multitudeto navigate the transitionself-awarenesscommunity of scholarsspecial interest groupsto plug into languishbouncing from X to Xdead-end jobto end upbenefits

Group 401V: We will talk about this article on September 28.
Group 401, Group 501V: We will discuss it on October 5.

This classic song by Ben E. King, Jerry Leiber, and Mark Stoller, became the anthem of the Playing for Change group. So here's the version that they created, with the help of musicians from nine countries (including Russia). See below for other versions and the words. It has been seen over 110 million times on the Playing for Change Web site, YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, and Myspace.

When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we'll see
No I won't be afraid, oh I won't be afraid
Just as long as you stand, stand by me
So darlin', darlin', stand by me, oh stand by me
Oh, stand, stand by me, stand by me
If the sky that we look upon
Should tumble and fall
Or the mountain should crumble to the sea
I won't cry, I won't cry, no, I won't shed a tear
Just as long as you stand, stand by me
And darlin', darlin', stand by me, oh stand by me
Oh, stand, now stand by me, stand by me, stand by me

a) Name of the assigned text, its source and author
b) Substance of the contents of the full article
c) Structure of the text (is it stand­alone or part of a package? are there subheads,
pull­quotes, photographs, captions, sidebars, links to related resources?) (on the BBC site, please note the section at the bottom, "Новости по теме")
d) Paragraph-­by-­paragraph summaries (not translation but “perceptive paraphrase”)
e) Your personal comments on the text
f) Unfamiliar words and phrases.

Friday, September 16, 2016

Police were called to a school in the Kent seaside resort of Margate on Tuesday after about 50 pupils were sent home for wearing the wrong clothes.

Parents and pupils protested about the start-of-term crackdown at Hartsdown academy, where children were sent home for breaches of the uniform code including having the wrong shoes, the wrong trousers, no blazer, a gold buckle on a shoe and frills on socks.

Parents said there were year 7 children, just starting at secondary school, who were reduced to tears after being turned away.

“I understand there are rules about uniform,” said one mother, Sian Williams, whose year 7 daughter managed to pass the uniform check, “but to be so strict and allow children to feel that way on their first day of school must have been petrifying for them.”

Another parent, Phillipa Turner, wrote on Facebook: “My niece was one of these children sent home today, first day of a new school and she didn’t even make it into the school gates.

“Apparently wrong trousers (they were too stretchy) what a load of crap because she looked really smart and tbh I’ve seen a lot worse going into that school.”

The uniform crackdown on the first day of term is becoming a ritual in schools up and down the country, as headteachers increasingly favour a strict dress code which they say improves classroom behaviour.

The new headteacher of Hartsdown, Matthew Tate, who was also marking his first proper day as head at the school, explained: “This is a school that has been underperforming and we are determined to do the very best by the children of Thanet.”

The school wrote to pupils and their families at the end of last term reminding them of the uniform policy and warning that if it was not adhered to at the start of the new term children would be sent home. Of those sent home on Tuesday, about 20 pupils returned to classes wearing the correct uniform.

“This is part of raising expectations and standards so that every child has a fantastic education,” said Tate, who joins the school from Trinity Free School in Sevenoaks. “A small minority of parents were not happy but we have had emails and phone calls from other parents to express their support.”

In his welcome message on the school’s website, Tate says that part of the school vision is “excellent uniform, a commitment to perfect uniform”. He continues: “And a ‘no excuses’ culture where excellence is the norm.”

Police were called by a member of the public shortly after 11am after reports of a disturbance outside the school in George V Avenue, where a number of parents and pupils had gathered. There were reports of “tension” but no charges were brought.

Allison Hopper’s daughter, who is in year 9, was turned away for not wearing a blazer or the correct shoes. “I rang the school, who were extremely rude, and they said she’s not allowed in because of unacceptable uniform, which I might add cost me a small fortune. The secretary agreed she was allowed to go home to get her blazer, but she’s not allowed in due to her shoes.”

Sian Williams added: “There were 11-year-old children on their first day at school in tears because they were being sent home. There was one girl who was sent home because she had a gold buckle on her black shoes.”

Another parent, who did not wish to be named, said: “I think this has been handled badly especially the head teacher being so strict with the children. The school has a duty of care - anything could have happened to those children.”

Hartsdown, which is rated “good” by Ofsted and is sponsored by the Coastal Academies Trust, is a challenging school with a large number of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, including unaccompanied asylum seekers and eastern European children with English as an additional language.

The executive head of the Coastal Academies Trust, Paul Luxmoore, said: “Hartsdown has previously been viewed in the community as a scruffy school. Matthew is right to ensure that changes and he has my full support.

“We’re bound to have a bit of a sticky period at the start as there are a small number of parents and pupils who are unhappy.”

Thursday, September 15, 2016

This is the third or fourth Eva Cassidy song I've used in our classes. I couldn't find a live performance video for this song, so the graphic here is the cover of the album from which I took the track that the Newspaper class (401V) heard in class yesterday evening:

Sometimes it amazes me
How strong the power of love can be
Sometimes you just take my breath away
You watch my love grow like a child
Sometimes gentle and sometimes wild
Sometimes you just take my breath away

And it's too good to slip by
Too good to lose
Too good to be there just to use
I'm gonna stand up on a mountain top
And tell the news
That you take my breath away

Sometimes it amazes me
How strong the power of love can be
Sometimes you just take my breath away
Your beauty is there in all I see
And when I feel your eyes on me
Oh don't you know you just take my breath away

And it's too good to slip by
Too good to lose
Too good to be there just to use
I'm gonna stand up on a mountain top
And tell the news
That you take my breath away

And it's too good to slip by
Too good to lose
Too good to be there just to use
I'm gonna stand up on a mountain top
And tell the news
That you take my breath away

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

This site has an ambitious tagline: "The best free cultural and educational media on the web." Is it successful? See for yourself! They boast "1200 Free Online Courses." "1150 Free Movies Online." "700 Free eBooks." "Learn 48 Languages Online for Free." And much more.

However, my favorite aspect of this site is the fascinating stream of blog entries in all their variety and randomness. Here are some recent favorites:

Saturday, September 10, 2016

Here are the two singers we heard in class, performing Hans Theessink's song "Shelter from the Storm" live in concert. Terry Evans, on the left, is from Vicksburg, Mississippi, USA; Hans Theessink is from the Netherlands, and now lives in Austria.

The version of the song we heard in class is here on the right. On this 2012 album the famous guitarist Ry Cooder also performed on the track, as Hans Theessink explains in introducing the song on the video above.

When cold raging winds
bring you pain and misery
you're caught in a tempest baby
like a ship that's lost at sea
when the light from the lighthouse
no longer leads you on
let me be your harbor baby
give you shelter from the storm

[chorus:] shelter from the storm
shelter from the storm
let me be your harbor baby
give you shelter from the storm

let me be a shoulder for you to lean on
give you comfort when things go wrong
when your sail is tattered and torn
you're out there all alone
let me be your harbor baby
give you shelter from the storm

when cold raging winds
bring you pain and misery
you're caught in a tempest baby
like a ship out on the sea
when the light from the lighthouse
no longer leads you on
let me be your harbor baby
give you shelter from the storm

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

In this course, you will encounter texts in Russian and English, in written and audio and video form. You will learn to summarize and analyze these texts. Specifically, you will learn these competencies:

Communicate in your own words the substance (“gist”) of the whole text, and of its individual paragraphs or major subdivisions, at a level of English that can be readily understood by a consumer of such texts in an English-speaking country

All mobile phones and similar devices MUST NOT RING or disturb the class, and must not be used for chatting (but students may access dictionaries)

Remember these cardinal rules: BE KIND and TRY

Of course, the general rules and regulations of the Institute all apply here, too

IN GENERAL: Never represent someone else’s work as your own. Plagiarism is prohibited by New Humanities Institute’s policies and by the rules of journalistic ethics. Use the rules and conventions of attributing others’ work. Please check with the instructor in any case of uncertainty.

This course depends for much of its content on the Internet, which is a major source for texts -- both for student reading and exploration, and for homework assignments. The Internet is used for these purposes: